Get to know your spam responsibilities

Nobody likes receiving email or SMS spam, least of all a busy entrepreneur like me.

And yet more than seven years after the introduction of the Spam Act, companies are still falling foul of the spam regulator, otherwise known as the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

Just this week, airline Virgin Blue was hit with a $110,000 fine for breaching the Act by sending people emails after they had unsubscribed from the company’s email database.

So the regulator is watching and any breaches of the Act will be punished severely. Given this, entrepreneurs need to make sure they and their teams are right on top of potential issues if they are using email marketing.

The key things you need to do to avoid an email marketing campaign being treated as spam is to ensure you have the consent of the recipient, identify yourself as a business and ensure recipients have the ability to unsubscribe from future messages.

If you are looking for further information about other tricks and traps that you can fall into, head for ACMA’s webpage on spam and start reading.

This is crucial stuff for your reputation and, if you get it wrong, your bottom line.

Get it done – today!